LinkedIn Essentials

The Modern Recruiter’s Guide

Stacy Donovan Zapar Matt Charney
Candidate Experience & Managing Editor
Engagement Strategist
RecruitingBlogs.com
Zappos Family of Companies
“To me, being a modern recruiter
“A modern recruiter is one who means being a business generalist,
is targeted, builds relationships not a functional specialist.  It’s no
and knows how to not only find longer about matching candidates to
candidates but also get them jobs - it’s about aligning your talent
to respond!”  and organizational strategic objectives
to ensure your employer recruits and
retains the talent necessary to stay
competitive and cutting edge today
- and tomorrow.  Being a modern
recruiter doesn’t mean just filling
requisitions or building a pipeline - it
means combining sales, marketing,
technology and human capital
management best practices together
to make sure you’re best serving the
needs of your candidates and clients
while maximizing your ROI and the
business’ bottom line.”
Steve Levy Jessica Miller-Merrell
Principle: Recruiting, Talent, & Social Media Founder & Chief Research
Consultant
Workology
outside-the-box Consulting
“Being a modern recruiter
“What is a modern recruiter? Someone means being flexible and
who is honest first, knowledgeable second, creative and finding new ways
consistent third, humble fourth, helpful fifth, to locate the best and most
and personable sixth – of course these are all qualified talent before the
valid in other orders. Too many people who competition gets their hands
call themselves recruiters don’t take pride on them. Some of the best
in their craft; aren’t continuously learning; recruiters are internet hackers
believe they have ESP-like abilities to read a and researchers pushing the
person’s body language during an interview boundaries of search and the
or read between the lines of a resume; and future of recruiting.”
recoil when asked questions about how they
do their jobs. These are the folks who came
into the profession because the barrier to entry
is low; the true professional modern recruiter
– doesn’t matter where they practice their
craft – believes that they didn’t find recruiting
but recruiting found them and feel a personal
responsibility to steward the profession.
Excellence first, paycheck second.”
Josh Bersin
Principle & Founder
Bersin by Deloitte
“The recruitment arms race has
escalated and attracting top talent
remains one of the most important
roles in HR. Today’s recruiter
must be a marketer, sales person,
career coach, and psychologist all
in one. Using tools like LinkedIn,
recruiting teams can develop
campaigns, manage their brand,
source candidates, and reach out for
referrals like never before. But, at
the core of it all, recruiters have to
know their own company, work with
hiring managers, and really know
how to assess people. If they can
bring this all together, they can be
superstars in their organization.”
Jennifer McClure
President & Chief Talent Strategist
Unbridled Talent, LLC
“Modern recruiters are experts
at identifying talent, building
relationships and creating
connections with candidates
and potential candidates using
all of the tools and information
available to us - including in-
person networking, the phone,
social media and mobile. Finding
talent is only the first step. Modern
recruiters make the company’s
talent brand come to life through
the candidate’s experience and
interactions with them!”
Andy Headworth
Managing Director & Social
Recruiting Strategist
Sirona Consulting Ltd
“In today’s world of ‘information
overload,’ where social tools and
platforms have made it easier
to identify people, there are two
key skills that a modern recruiter
needs. The first is to be able to
quickly assimilate information
from multiple sources, putting
it into context and establishing
relevance. The second and most
important skill is the ability to
communicate effectively - both
with clients and prospective
candidates - across ALL available
channels, especially the phone.”
Brendan Browne
Sr. Director of Global Talent
Acquisition
LinkedIn
“The recruiting organization
that figures out how to extract
the value of the web’s people
data and how to then build
a recruiting team model to
operationalize this at scale
will define the future of talent
acquisition.  The modern recruiter
in this new world needs to be a
business person first, complete
with the ability, gravitas, and
intellect  to influence and advise
hiring managers and leaders at all
levels with data in hand at every
step.” 
 05 Who this book is for

06 Recruiting is evolving–are you?

Everything starts with your story: How to make

09
your profile and Company Page stand out

22 Sourcing for modern recruiters: 5 steps

Beyond post and pray: The art and science

36
of successful job listings

Channel your inner marketer: Promoting

Table of Contents 44
your talent brand on LinkedIn

LinkedIn tools at a glance: A summary of

57
free and premium solutions

Common recruiting problems and how to

58
address them

59 Recruiting Hall of Fame

60 Additional resources

Don’t have time to read everything?

Skip to “Summary Checklist” on page 54 for key
recommendations.
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 4
Who this book is for 01 Work at companies with 500 or more employees

While anyone interested in hiring 02 Frequently source or engage early stage candidates
amazing people will find this book
valuable, we wrote it primarily for talent Are responsible for promoting their company’s
03
employer brand
acquisition professionals who:
Hiring for a small or medium sized bsiness? Check out our Recruiting for
Small Business: LinkedIn Essentials.

Don’t do these things yourself? If you are the leader of a talent acquisition
team you can a) forward this book to your team and/or b) skip to the
“Summary Checklist” on page 54 for key recommendations!

Special note for LinkedIn Recruiter customers

Indicates a tip for using LinkedIn Recruiter
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 5
Recruiting is evolving—are you?
Over the past ten years, recruiting has experienced more change than in the previous 40.
Recruiters have gone from relying on their Rolodex’s and cold calling to engaging warm
candidates within minutes of finding them online.

The best recruiters—the ones that become trusted advisors to their organizations and have a
seat at the table where company decisions are made – are those that embrace and shape the
principles of modern recruiting.

So what is modern recruiting? Modern recruiting is equal parts art, equal parts science.
Modern recruiters are the whole package—they have the powers of persuasion to woo even
the most passive candidates and the data at their arms to inform their organization’s hiring
strategy.

Learn more about the latest trends in recruiting: check out LinkedIn’s Global Recruiting Trends Survey (http://
linkd.in/1glW0P4)
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 6
 What is a Modern Recruiter?

Matchmaker Art science

Like matchmakers setting two people up Data Nerd
on a blind date, modern recruiters have Modern recruiters live and die by
an innate instinct for mutual connection the mantra, “If you can’t measure
between teams and candidates: They it, you can’t manage it.” They know
know how to network and navigate that numbers and data will not only
skillsets, and hiring manager personalities help them make better decisions, but
and cultures to make a perfect match. also earn the trust of others in their
organization.
Marketer
They think about jobs the
way marketers think about
products. They know how to
craft the right story for the
Researcher
right audience, whether it’s in
their own profiles or through Modern recruiters don’t
employer branding promotions. fly blind. They frequently
flex their research muscles
by researching candidate
Salesperson pools, employment and skill
They are experts at building trends, and by staying up to
a pipeline, nurturing leads, speed on the competition.
and closing deals. They
have the people skills and
negotiation acumen to win
for both sides.
Technologist
Modern recruiters know and love
Talent Advisor the recruiting innovations that
They are trusted advisors to their have blossomed over the past
businesses regardless of their decade. They know what tools
titles. They inform leadership of work best, and are masters at
critical talent trends and have how to use them.
a seat at the table when key
decisions are made.
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 7
LinkedIn: The
modern recruiter’s
partner
As the world’s largest professional* network
with over 300 million members,** LinkedIn is
the modern recruiter’s best friend. It gives great
recruiters access to more top talent than any
other source and provides them with the tools,
technology, and data they need to engage that
talent at scale.

This book will tell you all you need to know to use
LinkedIn for modern recruiting. We’ll give you lots
of pointers on the art of recruiting on LinkedIn—
from writing a winning job description to nailing an
InMail. We’ll show you the technology, data, and
tools you need to save time and money. Finally,
we’ll show you how to measure what you’re doing
so you know what’s working. The unique approach
that you bring to it, well, that’s all you.

*Learn more about the mindset differences between professional and

personal networkers (http://linkd.in/1hko0mg)

**http://press.linkedin.com/about
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 8
Everything starts with your story
How to make your profile and Company Page stand out

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 9

5 steps to a dazzling
new profile
01 Craft a killer opening
02 Dress it up with rich media
03 Add certifications
04 Showcase your volunteer
activities
05 Make your updates more
interactive
Amazing recruiting begins
with you
Think about why you are a recruiter—the careers you’ve transformed
or the organization you’re building. Does your profile reflect that? If not,
you’re missing a huge opportunity for yourself, your company, and your
candidates.
45 million profile views* take place on LinkedIn every day—it is the #1
activity on the network.** Your profile is often candidates’ first interaction
with your company so it should be inspiring. The more you can show about
who you are and what your company does, the easier it is for candidates to
engage with you and determine whether or not your company might be a
great fit for them.
*Brad Mauney, Five Simple Ways to Boost Your Professional Brand on LinkedIn (http://linkd.
in/1fKrxuD), (July 29, 2013)
**Parker Barrile, LinkedIn Further Mobilizes Candidates and Recruiters – Meet Mobile Work With Us
and Recruiter Mobile (http://linkd.in/1iW7PQt), (October 16, 2013)
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 10
 01 Craft a killer opening

Over-invest in your headline and summary. For a more

approachable feel use the first person (“I…we”). Write
like you want to hire, not like you want to be hired.

02 Dress it up with rich media

Showcase your work by uploading/linking to pictures,

videos, blogs, SlideShare presentations, and

5 steps to a dazzling websites.

03 Add certifications
new profile Build credibility by sharing certifications or clearances
you’ve attained.

04 Showcase your volunteer activities

Paint a complete picture by sharing volunteer work or

causes you care about.

05 Make your updates more interactive

Engage with your network by mentioning connections

and companies in LinkedIn updates. When they
comment, respond in real-time.

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 11

4 Profiles That
Inspire
Larry Hernandez of Zappos

Inspired opening: Self summary or

employer brand ad for Zappos? Larry’s
d
summary is written to inspire candidates.
Listing Zappos’ core values helps
candidates self-select, saving him and
them time!

Show vs. tell: The Zappos Family Music

Video demonstrates the company’s
adventurous culture more than a block of
text ever could.

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 12

4 Profiles That
Inspire
Aaron Neale of Improbable

Know your audience: Aaron establishes

d
credibility with engineering candidates
for Improbable, a UK based technology
startup, by describing the first machine he
built.

Use their language: Language like “enjoy

voiding warranties!” shows tech talent he
understands what makes them tick.

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 13

4 Profiles That
Inspire
Daoud Edris of Lion Co

Leverage rich media and video:

Under his current role, Daoud
d
has videos, infographics, and
presentations highlighting the culture
and mission of Lion, a beverage and
food company in Australia and New
Zealand.

Highlight individual employees:

Daoud posted two videos highlighting
the career transformation of two
Lion employees, Scott and Roy. The
message: You can transform your
career at Lion.

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 14

4 Profiles That
Inspire
Deborah Glynn of
The Integer Group

Describes impact: By talking about

the industry giants employees will
be working with, Deborah sends the
message, “You’ll be at a medium sized
company, but your impact will be
HUGE.”

Links to blog: Deborah refers

candidates to Integer’s blog, Shopper
Culture, to “think about who you want
to be,” to keep them engaged beyond
her profile. The blog itself is not just
company updates, it’s engaging and
chock-full of thought leadership.

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 15

Your Company Page Larger corporations are sometimes hamstrung by more
formalized processes, and their approach can come off as
is key generic or machine-like. Small businesses tend to have the
freedom to inject authentic company personality into their
Here’s how to make the most of it pages—making them more relatable to audiences. Use this
While your profile is often the first impression candidates freedom to your advantage!
have of you, your Company Page is the first impression
4 ways to amp up your Company Page
they have of your company. Whether its the culture,
mission, or products your company offers, think about
01 Use video and rich media.
why YOU joined your organization. Does your Company
Page reflect it?
02 Grow your followers.
More than 3 million organizations leverage their Company
Page to make it easy for talent to find them and learn
what they are all about*. On average, 71% of your 03 Engage followers with Targeted Status Updates.
followers are interested in careers at your company**.
Showing your culture and opportunities is a scalable way
04 Extend your reach by sponsoring content.
to turn your followers into candidates and help you foster
meaningful relationships.

3 essential Company Page resources

Did you know? You can target any update to your
followers for free based on geography, industry,
title, and more.
LinkedIn Company Pages are now optimized for mobile devices!
41% of LinkedIn’s unique monthly visitors come through mobile***.
Company Page resource list (http://linkd.in/1nqmC79)
How-to videos and guides, success stories, testimonials
Company Page playbook (http://linkd.in/1t9Znma)
5 steps to engaging followers on LinkedIn
Status update best practices (http://linkd.in/1eJ8czz)
10 tips

*http://press.linkedin.com/about
**Sam Gager, The Truth About Followers and Connections: Key Reasons to
Cultivate Yours (http://linkd.in/1jwnYgt), (January 15, 2013)
***http://press.linkedin.com/about
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 16
Amp up your Company Page in
4 easy steps
Remember that your Company Page should reflect your overall brand and provide a unified
experience for your audience—make sure you talk to your marketing team to coordinate your
approach!

01 Use video and rich media 02 Grow your followers 03 Engage followers with 04 Extend your reach by
Targeted Status Updates sponsoring content

Followers are twice as likely
to amplify a post via likes,
shares, and comments if it
contains video. No videos?
Try SlideShare, PDFs,
images, and links.
Embed “Follow” buttons* Post interesting facts, Sponsored Updates let you
in your website, candidate expert tips, Top 10 lists, and target talent outside of your
communications, and questions to interact with followers.
employee signatures and key talent pools.
profiles.
Need inspiration? Check out
Download at this gallery of great status
http://linkd.in/1hg1dbX updates (http://slidesha.re/Pevxxf)

*Embedding “Follow” buttons in smart places helped Unilever grow its followers from 40K to 235kin 10
months.

For inspiration, check out LinkedIn’s top Company Pages of 2013 (http://linkd.in/1mxslYl).

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 17

3 Company
Pages We Love
Greenpeace

Greenpeace shares industry news:

Don’t make all of your updates about
your company. Greenpeace knows
that its followers are interested in the
environment, so it shared this BBC article
showing the link between green spaces
and mental health.

A good mix of external AND company

focused content will keep followers
coming back for more.
Greenpeace In Japanese it is called shinrin-yoku, which literally means “forest bathing.” In
English, it’s just a walk in the park. Either way, being out in the green is great for you - an it is
now scientifically proven.
Green spaces ‘improve mental health’
bbk.co.uk 11 January 2014 Last updated 22:10 ET
by Mark Kinver Environment reporter, BBC News There is a
growing body of evidence that suggests urban green spaces
are good for people’s well-being Linving in an urban area
with green spaces has a...

Like (12) Comment Share 8 days ago

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 18

3 Company
Pages We Love
Marketplace Home Mortgage

Provide expert tips and insights: Marketplace

Home Mortgage shares quick tips and insights
that are relevant for their home buyer audience.
Post updates that spotlight your industry
expertise.

Marketplace Home Mortgage Bipartisan Housing Reform bill said ready for Senate
Bipartisan Housing Reform Bill said ready
for Senate
mortgagenewdaily.com Reuters andBloomberg
are reporting that the Chair and the Ranking Member of the
Senate Banking Committee have agreed on the outline of a
plan to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac . Senators
Tim Johnson (D-SD) and Mike Crapo (R-ID) said the...
Like (12) Comment Share 8 days ago

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 19

3 Company
Pages We Love
Mashable

Share snackable, valuable content: Mashable

hits the sweet spot by sharing content that is
both high quality and quick to consume. Keep
your posts bite-sized to drive high engagement.

Mashable See how quickly your country adopted the internet

How Quickly Did Your Country Adopt the Internet?
[MAP]
mashable.com As of 2012, 203 countries had
access to the Internet, and nearly 80 were more than 50%
connected. How the web spread like wildfire, 1993 to present
day.

Like (12) Comment Share 8 days ago

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 20

Profile and Company Page performance:
Metrics that matter

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. These free analytics tools will help you build your
brand strategically.

Measure your profile power Track your Company Page

01 Who’s viewed your profile 01 Status Update engagement

Are these increasing: profile views, how often you turn Measure real-time engagement analytics directly
up in searches, endorsements? under each post. Know which updates drive the most
clicks, likes, comments, shares, and engagement.
02 Who’s viewed your updates
02 Company Page engagement
Are more people viewing, liking, sharing, and
See engagement trends by type and time period.
commenting on your content?
03 Follower demographics
03 Networks statistics
Determine if you’re attracting the right type of people.
Is your network growing? By how much are you
expanding your reach to 2nd and 3rd degree 04 How you compare
connections?
Benchmark your follower growth against similar
organizations and competitors.

Don’t forget the soft stuff: Read comments for qualitative feedback
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 21
Sourcing for modern recruiters
5 steps

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 22

 Good news: Most professionals will consider
a career change when approached.
Passive what?
Passive candidates
Why passive talent matters for
modern recruiting Active candidates
25%
are actively looking
for opportunities
d
To be a modern recruiter, you need to
engage the best talent, not only those
actively looking. The reason is that the
vast majority of professionals are passive 45%
candidates; they are not actively job Say they are not
seeking, but they are open to the right looking for a job, but
opportunity. are open to talking
to recruiters about
Passive candidates typically don’t visit career opportunities
job boards or career sites or have current
resumes—they are too busy exceling at their
current company. But, they ARE willing to 15%
hear from recruiters about that life-changing
role. That makes your sourcing skills critical. 15% are completely
satisfied with their
are not looking, but are
current role and
In this section, we’ll cover need-to-know chatting with their close
don’t want to move
tricks for sourcing on LinkedIn—the world’s personal network about
largest source of passive candidates. opportunities
What motivates passive candidates to switch jobs?
Check out the infographic (http://linkd.in/PeNWKa).

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 23

Sophisticated sourcing on LinkedIn
You now have access to more candidate information than ever before. But, how
can you find what you’re looking for? Here’s our recommended approach.

5 steps to sourcing like a pro on LinkedIn What is LinkedIn Recruiter?

You can get a lot from LinkedIn, which we’ll cover
01 Get smart on the talent pool in this section—but most modern recruiters use our
flagship tool, LinkedIn Recruiter. Here’s why:

02 Master Boolean and other search techniques Gives you access to LinkedIn’s entire network of
professionals, including the ability to contact anyone via
InMail.
03 Contact candidates directly with InMail
Highly targeted search lets you search with extreme
precision using a large number of facets and custom
filters so you can find just the candidate you need.
04 Manage prospects with Talent Pipeline
Sources for you automatically (e.g., notifies you when
new relevant profiles surface, offers “similar profiles”
once you’ve found an ideal candidate, and suggests
05 Measure your success
‘people you may want to hire.’)

Facilitates team collaboration, including getting the

scoop from employees on talent they may know via
Inside Opinion.

Works on the go with its mobile app.

Get certified! Now you can showcase your LinkedIn Recruiter

Bookmark lnkd.in/productupdates to stay skills, and ensure that you are getting the most out of your LinkedIn
informed on the latest updates and new investment. Visit certification.linkedin.com to learn more.
features in LinkedIn Recruiter
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 24
1. Get smart on the
talent pool
Modern recruiters don’t fly blind. They source Here’s how to get to know your talent
strategically by assessing the data first. Before you
pool:
dive into your candidate search, get a bird’s-eye view
of the talent pool. Knowing what you’re dealing with
01 Run live searches in LinkedIn Recruiter.
helps you:
You can uncover the size and dynamics of
your addressable market for each set of
Prioritize your outreach. Better understand the
supply and demand for specific professional skill criteria.
sets.

Set expectations with your hiring managers. If
you’re asked to find a purple squirrel, you can back
up your search outcome with data.
Inform your strategic workforce planning. Knowing
talent pools helps you get a seat at the table during
workforce planning decisions.
02 Consult our free Talent Pool Reports.
These insights—available for select regions
and high demand professions—arm you
with information on the supply and demand,
location, background, and interests of your
target candidates.

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 25

2. Calling all
sourcing ninjas
Master Boolean search
Boolean searches allow you to combine words and
phrases using the words AND, OR, and NOT, to limit,
widen, or define your search. They are what most
search engines use and they’re your keys to better
candidate searches.
Enter one or more terms in the Keywords, Title, Name,
and Company fields in LinkedIn’s advanced search
engine and you’ll get a list of profiles. But, to find the
most relevant profiles, you’ll need to use the following
modifiers:
Quotation marks. For an exact phrase, enclose
it in quotation marks (e.g. “product manager”).
QUOTES narrow your search.
NOT. To exclude a particular term, type NOT
before it (e.g. manager NOT director). Narrows
search.

AND. To get results that must include 2 or more

terms in a list, use AND as a separator (e.g.
programmer AND manager). Narrows search.

Advanced Search: OR. To include at least 1 term, separate 2 or

more with OR (e.g. sales OR marketing). Great
for common spellings or synonyms of a word.
Broadens search.

Parentheses. To do a complex search, combine

terms using parentheses. For example, to find
people who have “VP” in their profiles, or have both
director AND division in their profiles, type: VP OR
(director AND division). Narrows search.

Go deeper: To narrow your results further, use search facets such as

location, industry, current company, experience, and seniority level.
And, don’t make these 3 common Boolean mistakes (http://linkd.
in/1dKRe39)!
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 26
 01 Leverage your own network. One of the perks
of being a recruiter is that you meet interesting
people for a living! Use your network to solicit
referrals and cherry-pick from their networks.

4 ways to source 02 Join LinkedIn Groups. Scout talent in a non-intrusive

way by conversing with them in LinkedIn Groups. Use
an authentic tone and show your personality.
beyond the 03 Engage your profile viewers. Reach out to the people

search bar who view your profile—they often work in the right
industry and share connections.

04 Put every employee to work. Pull up LinkedIn with

hew hires and hiring managers and ask them to refer
star performers, especially those who may have
incomplete profiles.

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 27

Zen and the art of hiring manager
maintenance
Ahh, the hiring manager relationship. Anyone who has worked in recruiting knows that it can
make or break the success and speed of a hire—not to mention both parties’ sanity! Here’s
how to help them help you source and build a stress-free partnership:

01 Agree on a process and rhythm 02 Set expectations together 03 Save time and gather feedback
directly

Who does what by when. If you have
LinkedIn Recruiter, share screenshots of
“Project Overview” to show how many
candidates are in each stage of the
pipeline.
Save yourself headaches later by outlining
the skills and personality requirements
using sample profiles. Use data to set
expectations. Talent Pool Reports and
LinkedIn Recruiter will help you size the
talent pool and adjust job criteria.
Use free “hiring manager seats” in
Recruiter. Send them batches of
profiles so they can give one-click
(customizable) feedback­—‘great’, ‘good’
or ‘not right for this role’—along with
notes if they choose.

“Sometimes hiring managers forget who’s in their networks. You

have to sit down with them and look together. Do some Boolean
searching with them by your side.”
For more tips on working with hiring managers
Angela Farrelly, Strategy Manager - Talent Acquisition check out these 10 Tips for a Knockout
Relationship (http://linkd.in/Pd4C4w)
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 28
3. Contact candidates
directly with InMail
InMails allow you to contact anyone on LinkedIn directly.
But, eliciting a response takes sophistication and skill (that’s
right, we’re looking at you…).
The key to getting an InMail response is to have a
personalized message, but that can be difficult when
you’re strapped for time. Here’s how to craft a personalized
message that’s still broad enough to elicit responses from
multiple people.
On average, InMail response rates are 3x higher than email.*
All InMails are response guaranteed. If you don’t get a response in
7 days, you’ll get credit for another inMail.
“The InMail said, ‘We’re looking for great
public speakers who have your background.’
I was flattered that someone saw my profile
and took the time to write just to me.  Turns
out the message wasn’t sent ‘just to me,’  but
it sure felt like it was.”
– LinkedIn member
9 golden rules of InMail
Review profile. Let the recipient know what on
01
their profile caught your eye. Personalization is
flattering.
Grab attention. Mention mutual connections.
02
LinkedIn suggests them for you.
Show you are selective. Highlight what makes them
03
appealing. Compliment them sincerely.
04 Be conversational and brief. Write as if you were
speaking. DO NOT paste the job description.
05 Listen well. Ask about goals and interest level in new
opportunities.
Focus on goals, not the job. Frame your message
06
around what’s in it for them.
07 Leverage content. Consider including useful
information, such as a relevant whitepaper.
08 Be patient. Don’t hound. Use status updates to stay
visible while you wait for responses.
09 Include a call to action. Ask to continue the dialogue,
not necessarily for them to apply off the bat.
*Personal Branding Checklist (http://linkd.in/QCUIKI)
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 29
4. Manage prospects
with LinkedIn
Recruiter’s Talent
Pipeline
The holy grail of sourcing is building a stunning talent
pipeline­—a steady stream of warm candidates so you
don’t have to start from scratch with every new job
opening. A healthy pipeline will slash your time to hire
and improve your quality of hire.
Instead of maintaining records manually, you can use
Talent Pipeline in LinkedIn Recruiter to aggregate,
track, contact, and nurture talent leads. The key is to
prioritize­—focus on skills you need repeatedly and
hard-to-fill roles. Here are 6 pipelining tips for LinkedIn
Recruiter users:
For general pipelining tips, check out 12 Tips For a Stunning Talent
Pipeline (http://linkd.in/1llPkpx).
Search and tag. Use tags to make candidates
01
easily searchable. Start with a broad search and
create a pipeline folder for it, (e.g., all computer
science students @ University of Washington).
Then create folders for more specific criteria
(e.g., cloud computing AND Computer Science
@ University of Washington).
Accelerate pre-screening with Inside Opinion.
02
Recruiter tells you with whom the candidate is
connected at your company—reach out to your
colleague for a candid read on skills and culture fit.
Use smart to-do lists to keep the conversation going.
03
Tag reminders to specific candidates, projects, and
team members so you stay connected and deliver on
follow-up promises.
04 Stay on track with projects. Send actionable reports
to your team to monitor and communicate the health
of your pipelining projects.
05 Save searches to retain your Boolean strings and
filter selections. Recruiter will continue to run in the
background and notify you of any new candidates—
you don’t have to do anything.
06 Use ‘Update Me’ to keep track of a members’ profile.
Recruiter will alert you if changes are made so that
you can monitor their career progress.
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 30
Find your next
generation of
leaders: Recruiting
students on LinkedIn
The most strategic recruiters are forward
looking—considering who they’ll need
not just 2 months from now but 1, 2,
even 4 years from now. When you build
relationships with students, you invest in
the future of your company.
Intel leverages LinkedIn Groups to engage students
Intel’s Student Lounge Group is a place where students can go for
news and updates about the Intel College Recruiting Organization.
There they can connect with other students and find late-breaking
job openings.
*http://press.linkedin.com/about
Over 39 million students and recent graduates are on
LinkedIn,* making it our fastest growing demographic.
Here are 7 tools to help you engage your company’s next
generation of leaders:
01 New graduate jobs. Post student jobs and
internships for free on LinkedIn.
02 Student talent pool reports. Find out where students
are concentrated, how to engage them, and what
makes them tick.
03 Education search facets in LinkedIn Recruiter. Target
students based on geography, school, degree, field of
study, graduation dates, Groups, and more.
Targeted Status Updates. Engage students, e.g.
04
“Students, what do you care most about in a career?”
05 LinkedIn University Pages. Over 24K higher education
outlets now have pages on LinkedIn. Deepen
relationships with schools and stay informed.
06 LinkedIn Alumni Tool. Discover where alumni work
and what they do. Filter with facets such as “What
they studied” to find top candidates.
LinkedIn CheckIn (http://linkd.in/1er9h9l). Collect and
07
organize candidate information at live events in
seconds.
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 31
Find diverse
candidates on
LinkedIn
A modern workforce is a diverse workforce. As a
recruiter, you do more than check a box, you make
your company more productive, innovative, and better
able to meet customer needs. Moreover, you ensure
that every employee is able to bring their whole self to
work. What could be more important than that?
Additional resources for recruiting specialty
populations on LinkedIn
The Diversity Hiring Playbook (http://linkd.in/1omD8JA).
13 steps to find, hire, and keep top diverse talent.
Four tips (http://linkd.in/QDax44) for diversity sourcing.
Non-profits (http://linkd.in/1dKShju). How non-profits can
meet their talent missions.
Non-profit talent pool report (http://linkd.in/PffgYJ)
Veterans (http://linkd.in/1llPQUv). Tips and resources.
Millenials (http://linkd.in/1e9yq8m). 8 traits you should
know before you hire them.
Here are 5 tips to help you build a more
inclusive workforce:
01 Build a list of keywords relevant to your targets.
Look at profiles of your own diverse top performers
and plug in new terms to filter your results.
02 Use ‘Similar Profiles’ in LinkedIn Recruiter. Once
you’ve found an ideal candidate, search ‘Similar
Profiles’ to produce up to 100 more relevant profiles.
03 Leverage Groups. There’s a LinkedIn Group for
almost every profession and identity—be active and
develop relationships with Group owners. If you can’t
join, ask an employee who is a member to post on
your behalf.
04 Conduct Talent Direct campaigns. Reach diverse
talent at scale using Recruitment Ads and InMails,
both of which can be targeted based on a number of
criteria and reach diverse audiences.
05 Ensure your digital presence reflects your diversity.
Whether through pictures on your Company Page or
employee testimonials on your Career Pages, your
digital presence, on and off LinkedIn, should mirror
your workforce.
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 32
5. Measure your sourcing performance
Know your numbers. Here are the key sourcing metrics you should be measuring –
in general and on LinkedIn.

in d u st ry
Sourcing Metrics Quality
of hire
Source
of hire
Time
to hire
Cost
per hire

l i n ke d i n re c rui ter
Sourcing Metrics Profiles Searches InMails InMail
viewed performed sent response rate

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 33

Allstate transforms
its recruiting What worked:
A 3-pillar approach that focused on
New strategy, new culture, new
relationships
01 Proactive sourcing. Allstate brought its recruiting
function in-house. They built a separate research
team that could identify talent, provide labor-market
Challenges
trends, and serve as an information center. They also
Allstate faced severe talent shortages, particularly
started using pipelining tools within Recruiter.
for technical roles. At the same time, they were
overburdened with a surplus of unqualified
candidates. 02 Internal mobility. Allstate launched a company-
wide campaign to educate employees and hiring
They were heavily dependent on agencies to
managers on internal opportunities, and to promote
source candidates, and research vendors to
understand labor markets. a more transparent culture. In partnership with
LinkedIn, they also expanded recruiters’ skills,
Their culture was not conducive to internal hiring, teaching them how to spot internal talent and
so they almost always brought in talent from the
become better advocates for employees.
outside.

03 University relations. Allstate worked with deans,

professors, and career staff at select schools to help
develop curriculum and get its messages out. They
also started using LinkedIn CheckIn at career fairs
to help streamline the front end of the process with
students.

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 34

Allstate transforms
its recruiting
New strategy, new culture, new
relationships
Using the search facets in LinkedIn Recruiter,
Allstate identified the top schools from which its
employees came. This helped inform decisions
about where to invest resources and deepen
engagement.
Results
Over $300K in direct cost savings. Decreased
time to hire and increased quality of hire. There are
now fewer but better qualified candidates in the
pipeline.
30% increase in positions filled internally. While
the culture shift is still in progress, it is far less
controversial when someone moves internally now.
A larger and more qualified pool of entry-
level talent. Another byproduct of deepened
relationships with universities is an increase in
student referrals by school staff.
Recruiters’ roles have been elevated and the TA
team is now highly consultative to the business.
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 35
 Beyond post and pray
The art and science of successful job listings

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 36

3 steps to success
with LinkedIn Jobs
As little as ten years ago, recruiters were tethered to
post and pray sourcing—throwing a job description on a
job board and hoping good candidates would apply.
As recruiting has evolved and modernized, so have
job listings. Today’s posts seek out active and passive
candidates alike and present messages targeted to
THEM. They function like an army of talent scouts
seeking out relevant candidates while you focus on the
art of strategic recruiting.
Need more help with Jobs?
Create a Great Job Post (http://slidesha.re/1pVosN1) talent alike find opportunities based on information in
More information about jobs http://lnkd.in/aboutjobs
*2012 average figures; individual results may vary
**Dan Shapero, Bringing the New Playbook of Marketing to Recruiting (http://linkd.in/
ObJ5bs), (October 11, 2012)
How do LinkedIn Jobs work?
Instead of sitting on a web page waiting to be found by
active jobseekers, Jobs on LinkedIn are distributed to
relevant potential candidates through automatic matching
algorithms and via professional communities sharing them.
Our members see personalized job listings when they visit
their home page, an employee profile or Career Pages.
The road to job success
01 Craft an irresistible job description.
02 Post and promote to just the right candidates.
03 Use real-time feedback to measure your performance.
Over 277M LinkedIn members can see your job.
On average each paid job gets 500+ views and 50+
applications.*
Over 50% of all applicants discover jobs through
recommendations** delivered through email and the
‘Jobs You May Be Interested In’ module on LinkedIn.
These recommendations help passive and active
their LinkedIn profiles.
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 37

1. Craft an irresistible
job description
A good job description gives candidates what they
need to assess whether they have the skills and
personality for the job. If you make it easy for them to
self-select, you’ll save everyone time and get better-
matched candidates. Here are 4 tips for an irresistible
job description:
Sponsored Jobs can be a good way to get more eyeballs
on your hardest-to-fill roles. By sponsoring a job on
LinkedIn, you typically get 30-50% more applicants**. 04
Here’s how it works:
01 Identify your high priority jobs to sponsor 
02 Choose how much you want to pay per click  
See your job appear at the top of LinkedIn’s personalized
03 recommendations
Increase or decrease the amount you want to spend on
04 each job at any time
Here are 4 tips for an irresistible job
description:
01 Save the creativity for the description, NOT the
title. 50% of job applications on our site come
from passive candidates who see the job via our
matchmaking techniques*. If your title is overly
creative, our matching algorithms will have a
harder time picking it up and distributing it to the
right people.
02 Promote your talent brand. Share specifics that
make your company a great place to work. Consider
linking to “a day in the life” video to better convey your
culture.
Highlight the position’s impact. Excite candidates
03
with specific project examples.
Give high-priority positions extra oomph. Sponsor
jobs for top placement with the right audience.
For more tips and job description Do’s and Don’ts check out:
7 Tricks for an Irresistible Job Description (http://linkd.
in/1jBtCxG)
*Dan Shapero, Bringing the New Playbook of Marketing to Recruiting
(http://linkd.in/ObJ5bs), (October 11, 2012)
**Sponsored Jobs (http://linkd.in/1s3Yue9)
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 38
Lululemon shows
how #joblove Is
done

Lululemon attracts candidates by

highlighting the position’s impact: “Growing
a young brand in a big market” and
“Sparking enthusiasm for athletics in young
girls” elevates the role above day-to-day
responsibilities.

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 39

Ubiwhere helps
candidates
visualize their
future lives
Ubiwhere, a small Portuguese company
competing for big talent, used a set of
infographics on SlideShare to stand out from
the pack.

The infographics included pictures of desks

and colleagues, as well as beautiful views
from the job location cities. Embed SlideShare
infographics on your Career Page and link to
them in job posts.

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 40

2. Post and promote
your jobs to just the
right candidates
How to get more out of LinkedIn Jobs
When you post a job on LinkedIn, there are a few
additional steps you can take to maximize your
chances of finding the right hire:

Follow up with top matches. When you post a job,

we recommend 24 LinkedIn members who best
match your requirements. Contact them directly via
InMail to start the dialogue.

Amplify your job. Broadcast the position on your

personal LinkedIn feed, Company Page updates,
LinkedIn Groups, and other social media.

Target your outreach. Share your job post with

members who fit the role based on industry,
experience, location, etc.

Generate a short list. If you accept applications on

LinkedIn, use one-click filters to narrow your list.

Promote your talent brand. When viewing jobs

from your Career Pages, job seekers see your
rich media (such as SlideShare presentations and
videos) along with company updates.
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 41

2. Post and promote
your jobs to just the
right candidates
Job Posts vs. Job Slots: platform.
What’s the difference?
On LinkedIn, you can purchase either Job Posts
or Job Slots. Confused? Job Slots are priced so
that companies which usually have openings can
post more flexibly and at a lower price. Job Posts
cost more on a per-post basis, but are better for
companies with less frequent hiring needs.
Job Posts:
You can purchase a single post or a bundle of posts
at a discounted price. All student jobs, including
internships and entry level positions, are free.
Job Slots:
If you regularly have open positions, annual Job Slots
make sense. In addition to lowering your cost over the
course of a year, Job Slots let you:
Manage your Job Posts via the LinkedIn Recruiter
Change your job posting as often as you like and
keep a position open for over 30 days.
Streamline posts with 3rd party job distributors and
pull jobs from your careers site automatically.
Send applicants straight to your ATS and add a 3rd
party tracking URL to your post.
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 42
3. Use real-time feedback to
measure and improve job post
performance
The only way to know whether your Jobs activity is working is to measure it. Use applicant
analytics to understand:

Who’s interacting with your job? You can see

exactly which types of professionals are engaging
with your jobs online. If they aren’t your target
audience, use this information to modify your job
listing in real time.

How and when are they interacting with your job?

LinkedIn shows you how often your job has been
viewed, applied to, searched for, and shared with
others. Each metric includes an anonymous list of
viewers with detailed data.

Who’s viewed your profile once you’ve posted a

job? Once you’ve posted a job, members who view
it may visit your profile to find out more about you
or your company. This gives you a valuable list of
interested candidates to whom you can reach out
directly via InMail.

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 43

Channel your inner marketer
Promoting your talent brand on LinkedIn

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 44

6 steps to a stronger talent
brand on LinkedIn
By now you’ve polished your profiles, posted killer job descriptions, and built 01 Maximize your presence, involve
a stunning pipeline of talent. But are candidates excited? Modern recruiting your entire organization
requires promoting an employer brand that candidates can’t resist. A strong 02 Leverage the ad space on
talent brand is vital, as the following stats show. employee profiles

03 Reach key talent pools with

82% of talent acquisition leaders believe employer brand has a significant
targeted status updates
impact on ability to hire great talent,* and top talent is 56% more likely to care
about finding the right culture. 04 Take advantage of free tools
05 Launch and enhance your
Strong brands enjoy higher response rates from candidates and yield cost Career Page
savings of up to 50% per hire, as well as up to 28% lower turnover rate.**
06 Measure your performance with
Talent Brand Index

*2013 Global Recruiting Trends survey (http://slidesha.re/ObKsqP)

**Eda Gultekin, What’s the Value of Your Employment Brand? (http://lnkd.in/valueofEB),
(December 1, 2011).
Want a more in-depth view? Download The Employer Brand Playbook: 5 Steps to a Highly Social
Talent Brand (http://linkd.in/1hkoB7y)
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 45
1. Maximize your presence, involve
your entire organization
Modern recruiters know they can’t promote a winning talent brand
alone. Partner with these three important stakeholders:

Your marketing and communications colleagues - They know how

to build brand promises and great content. Companies with strong
consumer and talent brands financially outperform their peers by
36%.*

Your hiring managers - Educate them on your employer brand. Help

them build profiles that convey their excitement about working for your
organization.

Your employee base - There are no better brand ambassadors than

your own employees. Coach them to make the most of their profiles.
Consider brown bag lunches to discuss profile ideas—there may be
unwarranted anxiety about what to do and not do.

*Elizabeth Rosenberg, How Talent Acquisition can Boost your Company Performance by 36%
(http://linkd.in/1jVgMgv), (November 4, 2013)
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 46
2. Reach your employees’ network—
(automatically!)
People looking at the LinkedIn profiles of your employees often meet the criteria you’re looking for in a candidate.
Since they already know someone, they tend to be more open to a career discussion.

Work With Us Ads allow you to reach and influence the networks of your employees, a fertile ground for perspective
candidates, by purchasing ad space on their profiles. These ads offer personalized, dynamic content that is 10x to
15x more engaging than the industry standard and they save you time by automatically turning your employees into
brand ambassadors. Moreover, there is no creative work required. Choose from these 5 styles:

Work with us
Picture yourself Grow your career by
at Company X
at Company X following Company X

YOUR
CREATIVE
HERE
Apply Now View Jobs Follow Company X

“Work With Us” “Picture Yourself”
Display a targeted set Invite the viewer to picture
of job openings every themselves at the company—
time someone looks at complete with targeted job
one of your employees. function, their picture, and
the option to follow your
company.
“Follow Us” “Internal Hiring” Custom Ads
Encourage the viewer to Many employees Show a branded ad with
follow your company so look at their coworkers’ your look and feel, that
they can stay informed profiles. Get branded directs people back to
via company status company messages in your corporate career
updates. front of your own people site or LinkedIn Career
for internal hiring. Page.
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 47
3. Nurture talent by Tips for Targeted Status Updates
sharing content Mix it up

Reach key talent pools with Targeted
Status Updates
Company Page followers have a strong interest in career
opportunities, making targeted status updates a great free
way for interested professionals to engage with your talent
brand.
Don’t bombard your followers with links to job
openings. Share relevant news stories about your
company, employee interviews from your blog, and
more. Aim for 2-3 status upates per week to start.
Have a plan
Sketch out what you’ll say in advance and build a
dialogue with your followers.

Stay on brand
Remember the messaging you’re trying to get across
and think about how to incorporate it into your
updates.

71% of company followers on LinkedIn are interested in

career opportunities at companies they follow.*
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 48
*Sam Gager, The Truth About Followers and Connections: Key Reasons to Cultivate
Yours (http://bit.ly/1e9VGTD), (January 15, 2013).
 Grow your base with “Follow” buttons

4. Increase awareness Embed “Follow” buttons in these places to expand

your audience and drive social interaction:

with free tools - Your website

- All candidate communications
- Email signatures and profiles
Today’s candidates expect a two-
way conversation, with context and Show talent who they know with
personalization. Community Insider

Visitors to Disney’s corporate careers site instantly

These free LinkedIn tools will help you get see any employees in their LinkedIn network,
there. providing a more welcoming path into the
organization. A friendly face may be just the thing
you need to drive applications.

To download the “Follow” button and Company Insider

widget go to http://linkd.in/1hg1dbX Hang out with target talent in LinkedIn Groups

Join industry groups and associations on LinkedIn

and other social media. Divide and conquer with
your team to cover key groups. Be proactive and
thoughtful, ask questions, offer advice, and share
stories.

Embedding “Follow” buttons in smart places helped

Unilever grow its LinkedIn follower base from 40k to 235k
in just 10 months.*
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 49
*Leela Srinivasan, Secrets of Employer Branding Leaders: Unilever (http://linkd.
in/1hfj6a5), (August 21, 2012).
5. Build your talent brand at scale with
LinkedIn Career Pages
Career Pages are a place where you can showcase your talent brand and engage candidates with personalized,
and relevant content. Use videos, banners, and employee spotlights to showcase your culture and what it means to
work there.

Strong talent brand video examples

✓ Think visually.
Use images to give a real-world glimpse into your organization.
• Work, Life, Benefits @ Zappos
Zappos devotes an entire YouTube channel
to showcasing its culture.
Think digitally. lnkd.in/playbook-Zappos

✓ Whatever you say, keep it brief. Content from your glossy graduate
recruitment brochure may not make sense online, where attention spans
are shorter.
• Starbucks Jobs
Starbucks has also amassed a series of videos
on talent brand topics and “What it’s like to be
a Starbucks Partner.”
lnkd.in/playbook-Starbucks
Think video.
✓ You’ll be able to engage candidates more deeply if they hear real
people tell their own stories, so make video a core part of your strategy.

Think customized.

✓ Adapt your content to viewers based on their LinkedIn profiles. You can
target your Career Pages based on a candidate’s job function, industry,
geography, and more.

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 50

The anatomy of a successful Career Page
For more inspiration, visit our gallery of best-in-class Career Pages (http://slidesha.re/1k3pB7Z).

Expedia Careers 36,894 followers Follow

Home Careers Products Insights

Bold, memorable visuals Arresting copy

with lively colors that grabs the reader

Where will you go with Expedia?

Connect with us to start today. Multiple page versions
highly targeted to
visiting talent
PEOPLE AT EXPEDIA View all employees » JOBS AT EXPEDIA

Focus on employees Custom Ads

through videos with a branded look
and quotes that See more jobs at Expedia »
emphasize culture WORK AT EXPEDIA

At Expedia, we have the freedom to be

ourselves and let our personalities come
out—and that’s what San Francisco is all 51
about. We are a quick moving company
where anyone’s idea can become the
6. Measure your brand 4 ways you can use the Talent Brand Index to
measure the success of your branding efforts
performance with Over time

Talent Brand Index 14%

13%
12%
11%
10%

Versus key peers

Talent Brand Index allows you to understand how well
you’re reaching and engaging professionals with your Competitor #1 15%

talent brand on LinkedIn. The index is based on the Your Company 14%
billions of interactions that take place on our platform Competitor #2 11%
each year. Use it to educate your leadership and justify Competitor #3 9%
investment in your talent brand.
Across geographies
US 19%
UK 15%
Brazil 13%
France 12%

Across functions
Sales 23%
Marketing 18%
“Because we developed a Career Page
Operations 18%
content calendar and have a daily
focus on growing our talent brand via Engineering 15%
LinkedIn through our Associates, our
Talent Brand index and Career Page For more information on how the Talent Brand Index works click here (http://
followers are rising daily!” linkd.in/1gZdMh6).

To learn more about your Talent Brand Index Score, contact us (http://linkd.
Miki Furnish, Talent Acquisition Manager at Carhartt in/1kr6N2I).
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 52
India’s HCL technologies
brings its Talent Brand to life
HCL has a unique culture of ideapreneurship (™) powered by an “Employees
First, Customers Second” management philosophy. Management works to
promote a culture of grass-roots, business-driven, customer-focused innovation.
This environment collectively empowers and encourages individual employees
at all levels of the organization to come up with innovative ideas to solve
operational and customer challenges. In order to attract and foster employees
with disruptive ideas, the company invests heavily in its employer brand.

3 strategies have fueled its success thus far:

TIPS RESULTS
1. Focus on emerging talent. HCL launched the campus initiative MAD LTD (Make a Reached 100,000 students across
difference, Lead the Difference) to engage students at top engineering and business campuses in India.
schools in India. Young entrepreneurs submitted their ‘ideas of change’ in three different
categories: Social, Technology, and Business. Winners won mentorships and the
opportunity to incubate their idea at HCL or externally. Result: Reached 100,000 students
across India and received 19,000 ideas since inception.”

2. Showcase ideapreneurship through LinkedIn. HCL set up a Gold Career Page on • 500% increase in • 37% increase in
LinkedIn (http://linkd.in/1fLBOH3) where they started sharing Jobs, company updates, traffic on LinkedIn LinkedIn Talent Brand
and employee testimonials. They segmented audiences based on geography and role, Career Page. Index.
and delivered relevant content such as research papers, events, and webinars. They also
used Recruitment Ads to create awareness about jobs among passive talent and to drive • 28% increase in job • Thought leadership
traffic to their Career Page. applications globally. status in the IT industry.

3. Use gamification to increase new hire engagement: HCL sends all new hires a link Stronger engagement with new hires.
to an online game the day they accept the offer. The game gives them an opportunity to
understand what it’s like to work at HCL by going through five modules: 1. Your license to
ideate; 2. Designing your growth path; 3. Ideapreneurship; 4. Work-life balance; and 5.
Philosophy and culture. Each module contains interactive questions, videos, and pictures.
New hires can win points and badges while interacting with each other and having some
competitive fun.
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 53
Summary Checklist
If you manage a team of talent
acquisition professionals or just
want a quick overview of this
book, here are the must-knows:
The Fundamentals
Create a dazzling profile. Be sure to craft a killer opening, use rich
media, add certifications and volunteer activities, and make your
updates interactive. Use Who’s Viewed Your Profile, Who’s Viewed
Your Updates, and network statistics to measure your efforts, and
encourage your employees to do so too.
Amp up your company page. Your free Company Page is your
home base on LinkedIn, so make it engaging with rich media and
videos. Grow your Followers by embedding the Follow button,
engage them with targeted status updates, and extend the reach
of your posts with Sponsored Content. Monitor your status update
and Company Page engagement, Follower demographics and
Follower benchmarking using Company Page Analytics.
*Personal Branding Checklist (http://linkd.in/QCUIKI)
Sourcing
Get smart on talent pools. Run live searches in LinkedIn Recruiter
to uncover the size and dynamics of your addressable markets.
Consult free Talent Pool Reports to get information on the location,
background, and interests of your target candidates.
Master Boolean and other search techniques. Use AND, OR, NOT,
parentheses and quotes to define, limit, and widen your searches
in LinkedIn Recruiter. Don’t forget to leverage LinkedIn Groups,
your own network, and your employees’ and hiring managers’
networks.
Contact candidates directly with InMail. Contact anyone on
LinkedIn with InMail, and enjoy a response rate 3x that of email
on average.* Be sure to grab your candidates’ attention and show
you’re being selective. Be brief and conversational, listen well,
focus on goals, and leverage content. Don’t forget to be patient
and ask to continue the dialogue.
Manage prospects with talent pipeline. Use Talent Pipeline in
LinkedIn Recruiter to aggregate, track, contact, and nurture talent
leads. Search and tag to make candidates easily searchable, use
Inside Opinion to leverage employee connections, use Smart-To-
Do lists to keep the conversations going, stay on track with Project
Overview, save your searches so Recruiter sources automatically,
and use Update Me to keep track of members’ profiles.
Measure your success. Consider tracking quality of hire, source
of hire, time to hire, and cost per hire. LinkedIn Recruiter metrics
include Profiles viewed, searches performed, InMails sent and
InMail response rate.
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 54
Jobs
Create a stand-out job description. Gives candidates what they
need to assess if they have the skills and personality for the job.
Use standard terms for the title, highlight the position’s impact, and
sponsor your most important jobs to get top placement.
Post and promote to just the right audience. Purchase Job posts
and/or Job Slots depending on your opening frequency. Follow
up with your best matches, broadcast the post on LinkedIn and
other social media, and target your outreach to the most relevant
members. Give your highest priority roles a boost by sponsoring
them.
Use real-time feedback to measure your performance. Use
Applicant Analytics to see which types of professionals are
interacting with your jobs, how and when they are engaging with
them, and who’s viewed your profile once you’ve posted a job.
**Employer Brand Playbook, page 34 (http://linkd.in/1pF6kca)
Branding
Involve your entire organization. Partner with your marketing and
communications colleagues, hiring managers, extended recruiting
team, and employee base to promote your talent brand.
Leverage the ad space on employee profiles. Purchase ‘Work with
Us’ ads on your employees’ LinkedIn profiles – click-through rates
are typically 20x the industry average.** Choose from a number of
styles or use your own creative.
Launch and enhance your Career Pages. Think visually. Think
digitally. Think video. Think customized. Buy the ad space on your
Company Page to drive traffic.
Send targeted status updates. Vary the content, develop a content
calendar, and be engaging while staying on-brand.
Measure your branding efforts with talent brand index. See how
well you’re reaching and engaging professionals with your talent
brand on LinkedIn by tracking your Talent Brand Index score
over time, against competitors, across geographies and across
functions.
LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 55
Appendix
LinkedIn tools at a glance

Talent Brand
Strategic Sourcing Job Targeting Development

Personal Profile

Personal Profile Company Page (http://

linkd.in/1hhAMXV)
Student jobs and
Basic search
Free LinkedIn Tools internships (http:// Targeted Status Updates
Groups (http://linkd. linkd.in/1el5mAu) (http://linkd.in/1el6Z0W)
in/1erqnnD)
APIs (http://linkd.
in/1g7CJSb)

Job Postings (http:// Career Pages (http://

linkd.in/1mY3WOT) linkd.in/OE94sg)
LinkedIn Talent LinkedIn Recruiter
Solutions (http://linkd.in/ Job Slots (http:// Work with Us (http://
QD8TQ5) linkd.in/1hBQTKN) linkd.in/1g8KdI5)
Talent Pipeline (a tool
Sponsored Jobs Video Ads
in LinkedIn Recruiter)
(http://linkd.in/1h-
BQTKN) Sponsored Groups

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 57

We feel your pain
10 common recruiting problems and how LinkedIn can help

Problem LinkedIn Solution(s)

You don’t have a budget to invest [more] in social Use a number of free LinkedIn tools including Profiles, Company Pages (Pg.7-19, Pg.55),
recruiting. Targeted Status Updates (Pg.46), APIs (Pg.58), and Groups (Pg.25, Pg.47, Pg.58).

Your hiring managers sometimes make unrealistic Refer to Talent Pool Reports (Pg.23, Pg.29) and conduct high-level LinkedIn
talent requests. Recruiter searches (Pg.21 - 33) to help set expectations.

You have a critical role that you need to fill FAST. Sponsor your most pressing jobs to get to the top of the list (Pg.34 - 41).

Sponsor your best content (Pg.46, Pg.50, Pg.52 - Pg.58) to reach non-
You want to extend the reach of a key message.
Company Followers.

You keep notes on candidates manually and in

Use Talent Pipeline (Pg.28) to aggregate, track and contact prospects.
several different systems.
Your LinkedIn Recruiter searches produce too many/ Experiment with different Boolean search techniques (Pg.24) to broaden or narrow
too few results. your results.

Your InMail response rate is low. Stick to the 9 Golden Rules of InMail (Pg.27).

You need to ramp up new graduate recruiting or Use student-related tools such as CheckIn and University Pages (Pg.29).
other specialty populations.

You’re not sure if your LinkedIn efforts are having an Set goals up front and measure your impact with Profile and Company Page analytics
impact. (Pg.19) Recruiter sourcing metrics (Pg.30) Jobs performance / Applicant Analytics
(Pg.41) and Talent Brand Index (Pg.51).

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 58

 People Companies

Larry Hernandez Zappos

Improbable
Aaron Neale Lion Co.
Daoud Edris The Integer Group
Unilever
Deborah Glynn Greenpeace

LinkedIn Hall of Fame Angela Farrelly

Marketplace
Mashable
Air New Zealand
Sejal Patel
Intel
Amanda Smith Allstate
Miki Furnish Lululemon
Ubiwhere
Stacy Donovan Zapar Carharrt
Disney
Naveen Narayanan Zappos
Expedia
HCL

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 59

Additional Resources

Getting Started Sourcing Jobs Brand

Talent Pipelining Best Create a Great Job Talent Brand Index (TBI)
Personal Branding
Practices (http://linkd. Post (http://slidesha. (http://linkd.in/1gZdMh6)
Checklist (http://bit.
in/1e9H7zD) re/1pVosN1)
ly/1h7VpGH)

The Diversity Hiring 7 Tricks to an Irresistible The Employer Brand

Global Recruiting Trends
Playbook (http://linkd. Job Description (http:// Playbook: 5 Steps to
Survey (http://linkd.
in/1omD8JA) linkd.in/1jxjjux) a Highly Social Talent
in/1glW0P4)
Brand (http://linkd.
in/1mIJ9yv)

Talent Trends 2014: Your 3-Step Recruiting

What’s on the Mind Team Makeover (http://
of the Professional linkd.in/1lAwFsD)
Workforce (http://linkd.
in/1lmdf89)

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 60

About the authors

Mckenzie Lock Kate Reilly

Senior Marketing Manager Marketing Consultant
LinkedIn Talent Solutions
Kate is a freelance
Mckenzie is a Senior marketing consultant. She
Marketing Manager at creates insightful content
LinkedIn. Having had her for the LinkedIn Talent
own career transformed Solutions team and is a
by a recruiter, she works to regular contributor to the
create compelling content Talent Blog.
that helps recruiters become
more efficient, successful,
and appreciated.

http://linkd.in/1h5YC8l http://linkd.in/1lu0mZ1

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 61

Questions?
Contact the LinkedIn Talent Solutions
Team at talent-trends@linkedin.com

Founded in 2003, LinkedIn connects the world’s

professionals to make them more productive and
successful. With over 300 million members worldwide,
including executives from every Fortune 500 company,
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network.

LinkedIn Talent Solutions offers a full range of

recruiting solutions to help organizations of all sizes
find, engage and attract the best talent. We are
committed to giving our members the best possible
hiring experience.

See more details on our solutions

talent.linkedin.com

Stay on the cutting edge with our blog

talent.linkedin.com/blog

Follow us on LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/company/linkedin-talent-solutions

Follow us on Twitter
@hireonlinkedin

LinkedIn Modern Recruiter’s Guide 62